Phone or video consultations with doctors can be “disastrous” for some patients, though some find them to be “more convenient,” a new UK study has found. According to the study conducted by researchers from Cambridge University, patients regard so-called “telemedicine” to have “increased misdiagnoses, inequalities, and barriers to accessing care,” but more than 60 percent found it to be “more convenient.” Researchers surveyed 1,340 patients, the majority of whom had inflammatory arthritis or lupus. They also polled more than 100 clinicians between April and July. The vast majority of respondents—86 percent of patients and 93 percent of clinicians—felt that telemedicine was worse than face-to-face consultations for accuracy of assessment, with some reporting misdiagnoses. One patient told the researchers: “My rheumatologist cannot see or hear how I move, look at my skin, eyes, hair, hands, bones, how I am … I was diagnosed with something over the phone, which I know …